Dollar General confirmed its 2012 plans Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, detailing an increased sponsorship agreement with Joe Gibbs Racing and Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) that spans all three of NASCAR's national series.
In the Sprint Cup Series, Dollar General will sponsor Joey Logano's No. 20 Toyota for 12 races next season, with Home Depot remaining the primary sponsor for other races. The company will also sponsor a full season of NASCAR Nationwide races with Brian Scott, as well as 10 races split between Logano and Kyle Busch. The final component will be 10 races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with Busch in the KBM entry.
“Dollar General has a thrilling and busy year ahead,” said Rick Dreiling, Dollar General's chairman and CEO. “We welcome Joe, Joey, Brian and Kyle to the Dollar General family and I look forward to seeing them in Victory Circle.”
Dreiling said his company made the decision recently to focus full-time on NASCAR and discontinue sponsorship of Sarah Fisher Racing in the IZOD IndyCar Series, even in light of the team's first win Oct. 2 at Kentucky Speedway with driver Ed Carpenter.
“Being in Victory Lane at Kentucky with Sarah Fisher Racing was wonderful, but our customer base leans toward NASCAR,” Dreiling said. “Our demographic is middle America. A lot of our customers have cars, they work on their cars and they can relate to these guys. They have a passion for car racing. That's truly what led us to JGR. A passion to win, a passion to do things right.”
Gibbs knows that in this age of tight budgets, he's lucky to have snagged such a multi-dimensional deal. But he knows there are strings attached.
“[Dreiling] wants to run up front; that was explicit,” Gibbs said with a laugh. “He likes to win.”